GAPPED TEXT: Understanding Intelligence

Understanding intelligence

According to the definition, intelligence is the ability to change ourselves and, where necessary the conditions around us in response to have a new situation. It is the kind of ability doctors need when they treat patients with an unfamiliar disease and have to try and find out more about it. Traditionally, intelligence has been understood as a combination of perception, learning, memory and the ability 1………………… . However, in 1983 Dr Howard Gardner, Professor of Education at Harvard, pointed out that this combination is, in fact, a mixture of abilities that are very different from each other, and said 2………………. This would include abilities in music, mathematics, awareness of size and position, and the skill of creating good relationships with other people.

How far intelligence is something we are born with and can´t change is 3 ……………Some of them argue that while intelligence might be in our genes, it is nevertheless affected by our environment. Studies on twins would seem to show 4 ………… and, because identical twins are almost the same in this respect, in tests they show the same degree of intelligence. But the results do not rule the possibility that they can improve our intelligence, so 5……………….. is open to debate.

Indeed, there is evidence that learning and studying can help improve a person´s brain structure and that dietary supplements, and even exercise, can make a beneficial change in the balance of chemical in the brain. In a recent study, it was even found 6 ………….. of taxis drivers in London grew larger to help them store a detailed mental map of the city .

A how we should interpret them

B that being in the job is difficult

C to solve problems

D that part of the brain

E what the effects of premature birth are

F that intelligence is largely due to the physical size of the brain

G what scientists have been trying to discover for years

H that what we needed was a theory of multiple intelligences.

I how they all disagree